Pin, no pin, unpin

Pin

Anybody who ever stitched two pieces of fabric together -- even if only in middle school / Jr. high Home Ec-- knows pinning is part of the rules to sewing.  Pinning and pressing are, I think, the two steps that are most often skipped b/c it's tedious work.  With some experience, I know these (and accurate cutting) are so important to having a successful finished product.  In quilting, it's even more important since we all want the edges and corners to (mostly) line up.  

I spoke with my neighbor about this  just yesterday.  She is an AMAZING sewist.  The daughter of a tailor and seamstress, I have every confidence she knows what she's talking about.  She pins everything.  And it shows.  Her one-of-a-kind handbags look better than anything I've seen in a store.  The detail and accuracy of the corners and edges is a testament to her skills.  

Ok, so what is  my point?  I suck at getting good results with pinning.  I line the seams of my blocks up, pin, sew and they still are off.  Sometimes, not too much, and other times, it's time to get out the seam-ripper and try again.  How timely it was to see a blog post come across my Facebook feed about nesting seems given my "jelly cakes" quilt top.

No Pin

The "Sew Can She" blog had a tip on nesting seams that involves NO PINNING.  You didn't read that incorrectly--check it out:  Sew Can She: Quick Quilting Tip Nesting Seams.  A chance to have blocks that line up AND not have to pin...what the hay...I'll try it!  I already had to rip apart two rows b/c the blocks were so misaligned.  I really had nothing to lose.  The picture below shows the results.  It worked!  It worked!  I admit, they aren't all aligned, but the most misaligned are equivalent to my best alignment when pinned.  This doesn't mean I will never pin again--far be it.  It just means, I probably won't when I need to line up seams. 

Unpinned

I found as I was trying to piece together rows during the girls' nap today, I realized I somehow mirrored the layout of my blocks.  I fixed the two rows I'd put together and had to either rely on my pictures to figure out the layout (in reverse) or redo the layout.  I opted to go by picture.  My opportunity to do this was after I'd put the youngest to bed while the oldest watched "Frozen"  (what? you haven't heard of that movie?!?!).  I'm sitting on the floor in the next room with my phone in hand trying to lay everything out in the proper order.  Isabel comes in, sits down and says "What are you doing?"  "I'm trying to fix a mistake I made."  "Mama, I want you to teach me to do that.  Because I'll be bigger and you're going to get old.  Like Rara.  And you won't be able to so I want to."  "Um, OK, Iz."  

And the "unpinning" (touching) part of this for me is that my 5-yr-old wants to learn a skill that doesn't involve a screwdriver, hammer or some other tool found at the hardware store.  This is the child who would rather help Dada change the oil in the car than help Mama bake bread; would rather watch Dada tune his RC truck than bead bracelets with Mama.  It has nothing to do with enforcing gender stereotypes (I'm truly thankful she wants to learn how to fix things and be knowledgeable of mechanical "things").  It is that she wants to learn quilting and she asked me, and I will do my best to teach her.  And...I'll tell her she has to pin everything. :)

In an effort not to end on a sappy note, this picture (below) shows how much is pieced together.  I have five rows done and the other six rows are 3/4 complete.  Barring any great mishaps, I think I'll have the blocks completely pieced together tomorrow (technically, today). I did order the fabric for the border, the backing and some extra to try my hand at a couple simple pillowcases.  I need to get a solid brown for one round of the border, but have some time.  I need to start work on a pair of matching twin quilts that I also purchased everything for....update on that coming up.